BB gun found in backpack at District 49 middle school

A Falcon School District 49 spokesperson said a BB gun was found inside a student’s backpack Thursday.

It happened around 11 a.m. at Skyview Middle School near Powers and Dublin boulevards in northeast Colorado Springs.

The school was placed on lockdown for four minutes after two students told a teacher that another student had a BB gun in a backpack in his locker.

The lockdown was precautionary and was lifted as soon as the BB gun was recovered.

The district said parents of Skyview students received a note about the incident several hours later after school was out.

“Because there was no immediate threat to students after the backpack was retrieved from the locker and we had (other) situations within the district, we were able to message parents,” said Matt Meister, district communications director.

Parents had mixed feelings about whether the district should have notified them sooner.

“I would have wanted to know right away,” said Jim Spruill. “But I think they handled it the only way they could under the circumstances.”

Parent Carin Rowan said she would have wanted to know sooner, as well.

“But I understand the school wanting to avoid a panic and have parents rush to the school needlessly,” Rowan said. “I think the bigger problem is what was a BB gun doing in a backpack at school? Do we as parents need to do backpack checks at home? I admit I don’t know everything that’s in my son’s backpack.”

No information about the student or what kind of disciplinary action he might face has been released. It’s unclear whether the student brought the gun to school intentionally or accidentally.

In another incident just north of Skyview, Vista Ridge High School was evacuated because of pepper spray.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department was called to the school around 11 a.m. Only a few students were affected by the spray. A classroom was checked and classes resumed a half-hour later.